The Elf Blog

Christmas Countdown - 7 Months!

Christmas is seven months from today! I'm already excited! Remember: the purpose of the Christmas countdown is to help you prepare. If you follow the countdown, when Christmas Eve rolls around, you'll be relaxed and ready to celebrate.

Here are the things you should begin working on over the next few months:

• Keep updating your Christmas card list. (If you don't have one, make one.) Summer is a big time for moves and marriages, so it's helpful to keep the addresses current.

• If you plan to make gifts, now is a very good time to start. You can do a little at a time and still finish. It’s a great thing to do on a rainy day at the beach.

• If you are vacationing (or traveling for business) this summer, be on the lookout for charming and unusual gifts for those you love. I've bought some of my favorite gifts at little boutiques I've visited on my travels.

• Have a conversation with family about where you will celebrate the holidays. As soon as that is decided, make any travel arrangements needed. The earlier you book a plane flight, the better price you’ll get and the more choices you’ll have.

• Make a budget for the holidays. I tend to look at Halloween through New Year's. It should include all aspects of your celebration: gifts, travel, food, entertainment, decorations, cards and postage, etc. If you have not already started saving to cover these costs, start now. You should never go into debt to celebrate the holidays. Having a budget and saving throughout the year will allow you to keep control of your spending while prioritizing the things that mean the most to you.

Christmas Countdown -- 8 months

Christmas is 8 months from today! Here are some things you can do now to help you be better prepared in December.

Rememeber, our goal is that you have a low-stress December so that you are able to enjoy the holidays. Ideally, by Christmas Eve, you spend the day playing in the snow before coming inside to watch a Christmas movie while drinking hot cocoa and eating Christmas cookies.

•As you travel, think about picking up small unique gifts from local shops. I've bought some of my best presents at little boutiques I stopped by on my way to a meeting.

•If you like to make gifts, now is a great time to start thinking about what you'll make and to gather supplies. You can even begin your crafting.

•Spring is a time for graduations and weddings and moves. Make sure you update your Christmas card list.

•A rainy spring day is a great time to plow through your holiday recipe file, highlighting the keepers and discarding the ones you don't like. Youi can even spend some time looking for healthier versions of family favorites!

What else can you do now to prepare?

Christmas Countdown -- 9 Months

Sorry I'm a bit late. I'm on a business trip. But Christmas is 9 months away!

Here are some things you can do to help you be better prepared:

•Now that the weather is getting better, you might want to clean up and make repairs to the exterior of your house so that it will be a lovely backdrop for your Christmas decorations.

•As you travel for spring break or business, think about picking up small unique gifts from local shops.

•If you like to make gifts, now is a great time to start thinking about what you'll make. Some things take a long time or are easier to make seasonally. For example, if you want to give folks homemade strawberry jam, you probably shouldn't plan on starting in October!

What else can you do now to prepare?

Christmas Countdown - Less than One Week

Christmas is less than one week away.  That means it's crunch time.  If you've been following the Elf Christmas Countdown, you are just about ready to celebrate.  All you have to do is to wrap a few gifts, bake a last little bit, and prepare your holiday meals.  (No matter how well planned you are, December 20th is too early to start cooking the turkey!)

But, if you haven't been following the countdown, you may be facing a lot to do.  Here are your steps:

1. Pledge that next year you will follow the Elf Christmas Countdown faithfully and with great care!
2. Make a list of everything you need to do. 
3. Now cross out everything that isn't essential. What's essential will vary from person to person. You don't need to buy a gift for someone you won't see until New Year's Day brunch. You may not need to decorate or to bake 5 kinds of cookies. Only do those things that are deeply meaningful to you and your loved nes.
4. Only do the tried and true.  Last minute is not a good time to learn a new skill.
5. Share the load.  Recruit family and friends to do parts of tasks.  Dividing and conquering means that one person can mix cookie dough while another puts up the outdoor lights and a third wraps gifts.
6. There is no shame in mailing cards after Christmas.  People want to hear from you.
7. Don't skip sleep and meals to make "Christmas" happen.  You know what?  It's going to happen whether or not you have a hand beaded star on your tree.  Bringing your best self to the celebration is the most important thing.

So take a deep breath and get started!

(If you have followed the Countdown, have another cup of cocoa.  Or perhaps some mulled wine.  And take the main course out of the freezer so it has time to defrost!)

 

Christmas Countdown - 2 Weeks

Christmas is two weeks from yesterday. You should be moving into end game on your preparations. By the end of this week:

• You should complete your shopping. You do not want to be in the stores this weekend. They will be packed with impatient people in bad moods.

• Ship any gifts that you cannot deliver personally. Shipping this week means shorter lines in the post office and less chance that you’ll have to pay expedited shipping charges.

• Finalize your menus for holiday meals and purchase all non-perishable ingredients.

• If you haven’t done your decorating, you at least need a timeline.

• Try to wrap the gifts you’ve already purchased.

• You want your Christmas cards to go out no later than December 20th.

• Follow the schedule you made weeks ago for baking, parties, and other biog events.

• Get into the habit of doing a quick tidy and declutter each day so the house will be prepared for folks to drop in.

• Keep some easy refreshments (chips, cheese and crackers, cocoa, wine, soda, sparkling water, etc.) on hand for guests who drop in.

You’re in the home stretch. If you’ve been following this countdown from the beginning, you should be just about ready for the holidays!

Christmas Countdown - (Less Than) 3 Weeks

It figures, I go away for a week and the blog gets a ton of visitors!

But better late than never.

Here’s your Christmas Countdown list for this week:

• Any gifts that need to be shipped have to go this week. If they are going outside the US, you're already pushing it.

• Finish up your cards and get them in the mail.

• Continue shopping. To avoid rush shipping charges or unexpected back orders, complete all online shopping.

• You might want to begin wrapping the presents you've bought.

• If you are hosting a party, confirm attendance and shop, cook, and bake.

• Decorations should be up this week (unless you keep to the German tradition of putting up the tree on Christmas Eve). You don’t have to do everything all at once. In fact, it can be very pleasant to do a little bit each day and slowly watch the house come alive with the spirit of Christmas.

• Decide what you will wear for your Christmas party, for Christmas Day, and for New Year's Eve. Drop off any necessary dry cleaning. Make necessary purchases. Even plan your accessories. It's not a bad idea to put the accessories in plastic bags and attach it to the clothing hanger with a clothespin (this hint is especially helpful if you have small children).

• Make final decisions on Christmas baking and on your major holiday meals so that you can begin purchasing the non-perishable ingredients.

Christmas Countdown: (Less than) 4 Weeks!

 

We are now under 4 weeks until Christmas!  It’s time to pick up the pace.

 

• Work on finishing up your Christmas cards.  You want them in the mail no later than December 15.
• Start your shopping in earnest. Decide how you shop best: a marathon or a bit at a time and schedule the time you need. Ideally, you should have at least half of your gifts bought before December 7^th.
• Mail gifts that have a distance to travel (anything outside the US).
• If you have some time, wrap the presents you’ve already bought.
• You may wish to start your decorating.  You may find it easier to do a little decorating each day.  It breaks up the work and you get the joy of watching your house be filled with Christmas.
• Begin finalizing your menus for Christmas entertaining as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
• Make your New Year’s reservations.

Christmas Countdown - 6 Weeks

Six weeks from today is Christmas! (Deep breaths. It will be ok!)

From this point on, our preparations will intensify (with a bit of a break next week for Thanksgiving preparations and celebration.)

So here’s your task list for this week:

· If you are making gifts or decorations, keep working. Ideally, you will be finished by the end of November.

· On your master calendar for the season, schedule your major preparation tasks: parties, decorating, baking, wrapping, etc. Also, take the opportunity now to block out a few days to just relax at home with your loved ones, drinking cocoa and watching movies.

· Plan what you will do to decorate. If you need to purchase anything, you should do it now.

· If you haven’t already done so, start working on your cards. By the end of this month, you’ll want your cards to be purchased (duh) and addressed.

· Begin shopping. Any gift that needs to be shipped should be purchased by the end of the week. You do not want to pay shipping fees greater in value than the gift.

· Finalize any plans for entertaining during the holiday season – through New Year’s. If you are hosting, decide what the event will be, when it will be, who you will invite, and what you’ll need to prepare. If you want to go somewhere on New Year’s Eve, make reservations now.

· Decide what varieties of cookies you will bake. Make sure you have the proper pans, utensils, and ingredients, as well as an appropriate stock of parchment paper and storage containers.

· Check your stock of stamps, shipping materials, address labels, and wrapping supplies. Purchase anything you need. You do not want to be standing in line at the Post Office and have to go to the back of the line because your package doesn’t have the right tape.

I know this seems like a lot, bit much of it is just thinking through planning or taking little steps to accomplish tasks. Believe me, when you are not going insane the week of December 17^th, you’ll thank me.

Christmas Countdown - 7 Weeks

Christmas Eve is seven weeks from today! That means it's time to increase the intensity of our preparations:

• Start addressing and writing your Christmas cards. If you do a few each day, it will be a far easier and more pleasant task.
• Make a list of all the people you need to purchase gifts for and note the gifts you have already bought.
• Begin placing online orders for gifts in case there's a back order situation.
• If you need to ship gifts, buy them as soon as possible.  You'll want to leave plenty of time for shipping.  Why pay premium prices for overnight shipping because you didn't plan ahead?
• If you plan to craft any gifts, you need to allot significant time for the crafting.  You don't want to be hot gluing at 2 am on Christmas Eve.
• Take stock of your wrapping, lights, and other decorations so you'll know what you need to purchase.

 

Christmas Countdown: Two Months

Christmas is two months from today.  It's amazing how fast that time will fly by!  Spacing your preparation out over the two months will make the whole experience far more pleasant:

• Take stock of your cooking and baking supplies.  Do you have enough cookie sheets?  Storage tins?  What cooking and baking basics do you have on hand:  broth, flour, nuts, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, spices, baking powder, colored sugars, etc.?
• Take stock of your Christmas cards.  If you bought them in the after-Christmas sales last year, find them.  Make sure you have enough. Also, check your stock of address labels.  Holiday stamps are available at the post office, so you can pick them up at your convenience. Make sure you get Forever stamps since postage costs will increase early in the new year.
• Take stock of your wrapping supplies: paper, boxes, tissue, tape, ribbons, bows, and gift tags.
• Take stock of your decorations so you'll know if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.
• Begin placing online orders for gifts.  If there's a back order, you want there to be plenty of time.
• Make your gift list (and check it twice!). If you've already bought presents, make sure that you note it.  If you have them hidden, make sure you remember where!